A resolution has been introduced in the Indiana legislature to name the bridge under construction in the East End between Prospect, Ky., and Jeffersonville, Ind., the Lewis and Clark Bridge.

The House Concurrent Resolution was introduced early this week by state Rep. Steve Stemler, D-Jeffersonville, and was cosponsored by 10 other House members. It simply urges the Indiana Department of Transportation to name the new bridge in honor of the explorers.

The measure was passed by the House Roads and Transportation Committee on Tuesday and is expected to get a full House floor vote on Thursday. It will then be reviewed by the Senate Transportation Committee, before being sent to the Senate floor for a vote.

State Sen. Ron Grooms, R-Jeffersonville, said he has full confidence the measure will sail through the Senate, as it did the House.

Wil Wingfield, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Transportation, said that, if the resolution passes the House and Senate, highway officials will almost certainly give that name to the bridge. He said he couldn't think of an instance in which highway officials had not gone along with a recommendation of the legislature to name a state-owned property.

He said resolutions do not have to be signed by the governor. They technically are advisory and not binding.

Indiana officials have the responsibility of naming the East End bridge that is expected to open to traffic late this year.

Former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear issued an executive order in December, just before he left office, naming the other new Ohio River bridge that recently opened in downtown Louisville the Abraham Lincoln Bridge.

Stemler could not be reached for comment early Wednesday afternoon.

But Grooms said Lewis and Clark would be a great name to put on the new bridge.

"They both had both Kentucky and Indiana connections," he said, adding that the bridge naming "would be a great way to recognize the contribution of the expedition. It would be very fitting."